Teachers without pupils, pupils without teachers

Mustafa Kömüş

Today is 24 November, Teachers' Day. Declared after 12 September, many teachers do not celebrate this day for this reason.

Hundreds of thousands of teachers cannot celebrate even if they want to, as they are labelled as ‘unappointed’ or ‘interview victims’.

Meanwhile, in some classes, particularly in primary schools, those who are not actually teachers, but graduates of theology and open education departments, are celebrating Teachers' Day. The Ministry and the Minister, who caused this situation with the appointment of paid teachers, issued a celebration message emphasising the ‘Century of Turkey’.

This year, approximately 70,000 paid teachers were appointed. Some district national education directorates published the appointments, while the majority did not. Even looking only at those that published them, an interesting picture emerges.

The district national education directorates in Silopi in Şırnak, Siverek in Urfa, Çaldıran in Van, Dargeçit in Mardin, and Solhan in Bingöl were among the district national education directorates that published the paid teacher assignments.

SIVEREEK AT THE TOP

According to the announcements made, 396 paid teachers were assigned to Silopi, 1056 to Siverek, 242 to Çaldıran, 70 to Dargeçit, and 107 to Solhan. Of course, it would be incorrect to say that everyone appointed is ‘not a teacher’. However, in many schools, theology graduates have been appointed as classroom teachers. Open university graduates or those with two-year degrees were also among those appointed.

THEOLOGY GRADUATES IN THE CLASSROOM

For example, in Siverek, 118 theology graduates and 24 physical education graduates are working as primary school classroom teachers. There are also those who graduated from the associate degree programme in Tourism and Hotel Management at Harran University or who are Turkish Language and Literature graduates teaching English. In Dargeçit, open education graduates teach mathematics in pre-school and middle school. Looking at the total number of teachers in these districts, the situation becomes even more dire. In some districts, one in four teachers is paid.

‘MEASURES WILL BE TAKEN,’ HE SAID, BUT...

Minister of National Education Yusuf Tekin left questions regarding the appointment of paid teachers unanswered. Tekin responded to the questions by reminding those present of the regulations and laws. One of Tekin's responses included the following statement:

"The subjects to be taught by those appointed as teachers to institutions affiliated with our Ministry, based on their field of appointment, their higher education programmes, and the subjects they are appointed to teach, are regulated by the Decision No. 9 of the Council of Education and Training dated 20.02.2014. Article 7 of the aforementioned Decision, titled “Matters to be Considered in Appointments”, states: 'It is essential that those to be appointed as teachers have the necessary and sufficient level of general culture, specialised field education and pedagogical training. Those who have not completed one of these educational processes or have not earned sufficient credits shall not be appointed as teachers. However, in cases where teacher needs cannot be met, appointments of individuals without pedagogical training may be made, provided that they possess the necessary qualifications and are appointed after such individuals. Necessary measures shall be taken to ensure that those appointed in this manner acquire pedagogical training during their probationary period." Within this scope, teachers to be appointed to schools and institutions affiliated with the Ministry of National Education are determined in accordance with this provision.

Although the Minister states that ‘necessary measures will be taken for those without pedagogical training to acquire it,’ it is a well-known fact that the Ministry of National Education has taken no measures in this regard for nearly 25 years.

THIS IS NOT THE ONLY PROBLEM

Of course, paid teaching is not the only problem on Teachers' Day. The Teaching Profession Act has effectively divided teachers. Teachers are now referred to by names such as permanent, contract, and candidate. Thousands of teachers were unfairly and unlawfully dismissed by decrees. Among OECD countries, Turkey still ranks at the bottom in terms of teachers' economic, social, and personal rights.

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NO APPOINTMENTS, NO JUSTICE

Hundreds of thousands of teachers who have not been appointed or who work in the private sector cannot celebrate this day properly.

I DID EVERY THING TO SURVIVE

Ayşegül Seyhan, who graduated in 2019, described the impact that her years-long struggle for appointment had on her with these words: "Actually, I try every year. I had tried every year until this year. This year, I was so hopeless, with no hope for the future in terms of the country, in terms of teaching, in terms of my profession... This year, I said, “I'm not going to take the exam.” I mean, it's really turned into such a thing that it's like you're trying to survive in a trap. That's why I'm no longer hopeful about being appointed. I didn't take the exam this year. I don't know what will happen next year. Maybe there will be a little more hope in our hearts, but if the system continues like this, if the policies continue like this, it seems like no teacher will have that feeling, that goal anymore. Since graduating, I've worked in many different fields. I worked as a secretary in a law firm. I washed dishes in a café for about a year and a half. After that, I worked in a call centre. So, actually, to put food on the table, to survive, I took on many different jobs."

Nadire Fırat, a mathematics teacher who graduated in 2016, also said in her statement that she had been preparing for the KPSS for three years. Fırat said, ‘The year the field exam came, I realised that it was very difficult and that the number of appointments was very low,’ and stated that she turned to the private sector. Fırat continued: "Unfortunately, our Minister said something: “They are teachers, you are not teachers”. But we are all teachers, we all received the same education, we all graduated from the same faculty. There is no difference between us, but there are no appointments either. There are 30,000 mathematics teachers, but only 1,500 appointments. When we look at it, we have to put in an incredible amount of effort to get into that 1,500-strong scale."

Note: This article is translated from the original article titled Türkiye Yüzyılı’nda Öğretmenler Günü: Öğretmenler öğrencisiz, öğrenciler öğretmensiz, published in BirGün newspaper on November 24, 2025.